Lin Dongxue was very surprised and wondered what game he was playing at.

Chen Shi said, “In the future, you will live here and try to come back from work as early as possible every day. If it is later than 6:00, I will pick you up in person.”

“I paid the deposit already...”

“Just pretend you paid me.”

“Aren't you afraid of trouble?”

“It doesn't matter. I figured it out.”

He figured that letting Lin Dongxue live alone would make him even more uneasy. He had confirmed that Zhou Xiao returned. It was very likely that the three photos were sent by him. Therefore to protect Lin Dongxue, there was nothing safer than being under his eyes.

But Lin Dongxue was still acting defiantly. “No, I was planning to move away anyway.”

She was pulling the trolley case to go, and Chen Shi blocked the wall with his hand and said earnestly, “I will rent you this bedroom for 300 yuan a month.”

Lin Dongxue pouted, “I don’t care for that!”

Lin Dongxue still left, thinking angrily on the road. He drove me away yesterday and then he won’t let me go today. Who does he think he is?!

Thinking about it, her eyes went tingly, but she resisted the urge. I’m not going to cry for him!

When she got to her new home, she cleaned it up and busied herself until 8:00. She was very dirty, so she began to heat some water[1] to prepare for a bath. As a result, when she tried the water, it was as if she had been struck with needles. She tried again but got shocked again.

Lin Dongxue went to the landlord immediately. The landlord was playing mahjong with a few friends. Smoke filled the room and they were very noisy. Lin Dongxue knocked on the door and said, “My water heater is leaking electricity!”

The landlord continued to smoke his cigarettes and couldn't even keep his eyes open. He said without a care, “Beauty, I'll call someone to look into it tomorrow. There won’t be an electrician this late at night. You will just have to deal with it for the night... Self-drawn[2]!”

Lin Dongxue held in her anger and returned to her residence. She found that Chen Shi was standing at the door carrying a bag in his hand.

Lin Dongxue was very surprised and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Chen Shi held up the bag. “You didn't bring your toiletries, so I brought them for you. There’s also your cosmetics.”

Lin Dongxue laughed angrily. “That's skincare. I don’t use cosmetics.”

“Yes, you are naturally beautiful. Even without make-up, you’re far ahead of those Internet celebrities.”

Lin Dongxue tried not to laugh and said, “Come in. Don't just stand there.”

Chen Shi looked at her new residence and said, “One thousand a month, it's not expensive... Why do you look so upset?”

“The water heater is leaking electricity. The landlord is playing mahjong and won’t look for an electrician until tomorrow.”

“I'll help you take a look.”

“Don't touch electric things, just in cas-”

“It's okay. I have tools in my car.”

Chen Shi went to fetch the tools, turned off the electric box, and unscrewed the water heater for inspection. He pointed to a certain place on it and said, “This water heater is basically a new bottle of old wine[3]. Unplug it after the water is heated!”

“Renting a house is so troublesome. When can I have my own home?” Lin Dongxue hesitated for a while.

“Should I lend you a down-payment?”

“No, then mustn’t I smile at you every day?”

“Even if people were to smile at me, I won’t lend it to them!”

Lin Dongxue smiled, but upon remembering that she was still angry with him, she suppressed it.

When Chen Shi was repairing the water heater, he suddenly trembled and his jaw went stiff. Lin Dongxue was frightened. She quickly tugged at Chen Shi’s clothes. He smiled before saying, “Just teasing you.”

Lin Dongxue tried to hit him, but Chen Shi grabbed her wrist.

The bathroom was cramped and the toilet took up a third of the space. Lin Dongxue was dragged by her wrist, almost leaning against Chen Shi. Her cheeks got really hot.

Chen Shi said, “I drove you away yesterday not because of you, but because of me. Can you not be angry with me?”

“What right do I have to be mad at you? I have nothing to do with you...” Lin Dongxue's fair cheeks turned red again, like apples that had just matured.

“I’m apologizing to you seriously. If you can’t live in this house any longer, you are welcome to move to my place at any time.”

“Move to yours?”

“I'll collect your rent next time, so you can live with peace of mind. How about 300 a month?”

“300 is too cheap. It’s clear you’re letting me live there freely. Don’t treat me so well. I’ll have psychological burdens. I wonder if you…” Lin Dongxue paused after each heavily-enunciated word, “Have. Ulterior. Motives!”

“I’m sincerely suggesting this. How about 600?”

“I usually eat at yours, so 600 is too cheap.”

“Then, 800!”

“We’ll go with 1,000. That’s almost the same price as what’s on the market.”

“Do other people bargain like this? Is this the mythical gentleman’s kingdom?”

The two looked at each other and began laughing at the same time.

Suddenly, a stream of water sprayed down, and Lin Dongxue quickly jumped out. It turned out that Chen Shi had accidentally touched the shower switch, and they both got a head of water.

“What bad luck!” Lin Dongxue smiled bitterly.

“Don’t move.”

Chen Shi took a dry towel to wipe her hair for her. His big and generous hands touched her head with the towel in between. She could feel the heat and pressure of his palms, and Lin Dongxue's heart thumped.

There was no light in the room and everything was silent. Lin Dongxue couldn't help but want to reach out and hug Chen Shi's waist.

Suddenly, she thought to herself, What are you doing?!

She quickly restrained her urge and said, “It’s fine now since I have to shower anyway… Your hair is wet too.”

Chen Shi wiped it casually and said, “My hair is short, so it doesn't matter.”

“That...” Lin Dongxue blushed, and the temperature in the room seemed to be a few degrees higher than before.

“Have you had dinner? Should I order takeaway?”

“I'll order it myself.”

“Not angry with me anymore?”

“I wasn't mad at you to begin with. Living with you was temporary. If my brother knew that we were living together, he would scold me to death. I would have moved out sooner or later. I’m a girl and it’s not convenient!”

“Anyway, no matter where you live, you must keep yourself safe. Come back early in the evening and you must remember to lock the door... I’ll install a bolt for you tomorrow.” Chen Shi opened his hand. “Give me the spare key. I will be over tomorrow during the day to prepare it for you.”

“Why suddenly...” Lin Dongxue asked, but she felt a bit flattered. Isn’t worrying about her safety an advanced form of concern?

“Maybe the previous case was too dangerous and made me a little scared. To be honest, I really like...”

Lin Dongxue was nervous for a while and couldn’t help raising her ears in wait.

Chen Shi continued, “I really like to chat, eat, and solve cases with you. Don't die on me suddenly.”

Lin Dongxue punched Chen Shi with her fist and cursed with a smile. “Crow's mouth!”

At 10:00 in the evening, Chen Shi returned to his home. Tao Yueyue hadn't fallen asleep yet. She said, “Kicking people out and running over again. Adults are so purposely illogical!”

“How do you know I went to Sister Lin’s?”

“You laughed wretchedly when you entered.”

“Do you know how to describe things properly?!”

“Did you guys mate tonight?”

“No... Wait, what are you saying?!” Chen Shi immediately widened his eyes and took out the authority of a guardian.

“Why can’t I say that? Semantically, this is just a neutral word, and we have already taken biology classes. My mother was doing that kind of occupation, so I have known for a long time. The teacher said that foreign children's elementary schools have universal sex education. However, Chinese parents are still secretive about this and when they hear such words, they become furious. Sex itself is just a biological behavior. Cats and dogs will mate as well. Adults think that children should not understand this, but it’s nothing more than their own dirty thinking. Your psychology book says that love has sex as a component of this high-level human relationship. If you like Sister Lin and want to mate with her, isn’t that normal behavior? On one hand, children are not allowed to understand. On the other hand, people accuse children who are sexually assaulted of not knowing how to protect themselves. This hypocritical thinking and double standard causes a discourse in hegemony!”

“I'm wrong. I'm wrong... I'm sorry!” Chen Shi was speechless. “But those words were a bit much. Could you change them?”

“Which one do you think is better?”

After thinking about it, there didn't seem to be any words to describe it, so Chen Shi said, “Just talk about that at home. Outside, can you be a bit more normal?”

“What is normal? You mean the average behavior of peers the same age?”

“Are you Socrates tonight? Come here and let me tell you something serious!”

1. They have water heating units (Which you have to manually turn it on to boil water for your shower every time).

2. It’s a mahjong term referring to winning on a tile drawn from the wall by yourself instead of winning upon a discarded tile from another player. In many variations of mahjong, drawing the winning tile yourself requires all the parties to pay, rather than the person who discarded the winning tile.

3. The outside is new but the inside is old.